Credits: Article and images by Jeremiah Chan @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/panerai-44mm-submersibles/
All seven new releases are powered by the in-house caliber P.900 developed by parent company Richemont’s movement supplier, Manufacture Horlogère ValFleurier. The P.900 beats at 28,800vph and can still boast of a three-day power reserve from a single barrel. Another highlight, although literally small in size, worth mentioning is the redesigned date window for the Submersible. The date window used to be a simple rectangular cutout on the dial that didn’t seem to do much for the date, but it served its purpose. Panerai have now introduced a border to frame the window that is curved at the four corners and concave in profile. A minor design update that is more likely to draw the eye toward the date.
Included with every model is a handy toolkit with a strap changing tool and a screwdriver for removing the buckle, so you don’t have to go to the boutique or a watchmaker to get a strap changed.
Now, if you feel the latest Submersible release is slightly muted, hear us out. A new case size and colors for an already established collection may not sound like such a big deal at face value, but it would help put things into context if we examine the existing case sizes available, across all complications, from all four of Panerai’s product lines:
1. The Submersible now comes in 42mm, 44mm and 47mm;
2. The Luminor in 40mm, 42mm, 44mm and 47mm;
3. The Luminor Due in 38mm, 42mm and 45mm;
4. The Radiomir in 42mm, 45mm, 47mm and 48mm
With the latest trend shifting toward smaller case sizes, most enthusiasts would agree that the sweet spot for a wearable case would be 38–40mm (weird lug-to-lug dimensions notwithstanding). Maybe you could push it to 42mm if you had multiple complications on the dial and legibility is a legitimate concern. However, if we’re being honest, watch enthusiasts make up a much smaller segment of the whole watch market. We aren’t privy to Panerai’s market segmentation analysis, but what is clear is that if you are attracted to the Panerai aesthetic, there is literally a PAM for every wrist size out there — within reason, of course. Panerai is not a small dress watch company and has never tried to be, for all of you out there screaming that it’s 36mm or nothing.
The standout of this release is the Luna Rossa model as it’s a tool watch that can be dressed down. It really does look at home on a yacht, whether in a race or with champagne and caviar in hand. We feel the eSteel models were a missed opportunity to introduce brighter and more fun colors (MoonSwatch color palette maybe?) to draw attention to the sustainability message behind the watches. If the Submersible is too serious for such a release, a future eSteel release for the Luminor Due could do the trick.
The bigger story at play here is that the various inclusions of recycled materials at the product design level is but a limited view of Panerai’s overall sustainability mission. Panerai calls its sustainability framework Panerai Ecologico and it consists of five pillars: Buildings, Processes, Products, Partnerships and People.
Panerai’s state-of-the-art manufacture in Neuchâtel can already boast of net zero carbon emissions and continues to work toward meeting the MINERGIE standard, a Swiss standard of quality for low energy consumption buildings. It has employed recycling processes and a 100 percent reliance on clean energy for its manufacturing operations. For example, rainwater is collected and reused to the tune of 225,000 liters of rainwater saved per year. The manufacturing of all watches is 100 percent powered by hydroelectricity, one of Switzerland’s largest sources of renewable energy. Besides water and electricity, heat energy is recycled from air compression machines to heat water, solar panels contribute 15 percent to the heating system’s output, and 36 geothermal sensors and heat pumps regulate the building’s internal temperature without using electricity. That saves 65,000 liter of fossil fuel use per year.
In terms of product, we have already mentioned Panerai’s use of eSteel and EcoTitanium, which significantly reduces carbon emissions by not using metal from freshly mined ore. Keen to involve the whole industry in this initiative, Panerai shared the details of the compostion of EcoTitanium and its list of suppliers and partners with other watch companies. It has set a goal for itself to have at least 30 percent of its watches produced using recycled materials by 2025. Its membership in the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) since 2012 and Council-certified code of practices since 2014, is indicative of its commitment to source precious metal through ethical, social and environmentally conscious means.
Its partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) in 2021 has resulted in the Ocean Literacy program, which is part of a larger UN program called the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021 – 2030). Ocean Literacy is a two-year program focused at the grassroots, university level where Panerai seeks to educate students how a luxury brand can be committed to sustainability. This is the talk that accompanies the walk, so to speak, that companies like Panerai can continue to engage in, to empower the public to be active agents of change according to Francesca Santoro, Program Specialist for IOC-UNESCO.
Lastly, Panerai’s “Do It Together” company initiative encourages its own employees to volunteer at their own time toward sustainability projects, and to participate in plastic collection days to clean up the oceans. Panerai also supports The Imibala Trust, a South African NGO whose mission empowers students to approach their scholarship with an international outlook. It will require broad-minded, border-bridging leadership to overcome climate change.
Another huge development this year that is sustainability related, is Panerai’s partnership with Watchfinder & Co., one of the largest resellers of preowned watches, to create a Watch Exchange Program. This is a trade-in program that allows consumers to bring in an existing watch, regardless of brand, to a Panerai boutique (limited to the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, the US and Hong Kong for now) and trade up to a brand new Panerai from any of the four collections. The boutique will provide an initial estimate and if the customer is agreeable, the watch will be sent to Watchfinder’s Panerai-certified service center for a full appraisal and final valuation. After accepting the final valuation, Watchfinder purchases the watch from the customer and the value can be used to offset the purchase price of a new Panerai. The pre-owned watch is then certified to be in optimal working condition, before being resold through Watchfinder’s boutiques and online platform with a 24-month warranty.
Watchfinder will be exhibiting for the first time at Watches and Wonders, alongside Panerai at their booth, and a selection of pre-owned Submersibles will be on display alongside the new releases to showcase the evolution of Panerai in terms of materials development and sustainability.
This partnership is incredible, and we hope more brands will recognize the value in providing a pre-owned service as pre-owned watches are no longer seen as second class. The automotive industry has implemented pre-owned services since the 1990s and the watch industry has some catching up to do. It would maximize the resources needed to produce new watches, but more importantly, provide some form of a regulatory framework for the pre-owned market for a particular brand and could also act as a gateway for a new customer to be introduced to the brand at a lower price point.
What Panerai is doing for 2022 is far from underwhelming and if you’re an individual that is climate conscious (as we all really should be), this company that has always made serious tool watches should be deserving of your attention moving forward into the future.
Panerai Submersible QuarantaQuattro Stainless Steel and Carbotech
Credits: Article and images by Jeremiah Chan @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/panerai-44mm-submersibles/
